In recent years, memory devices such as IC cards, etc. are used in various services, for example, for credit cards, bank money cards, hospital medical care cards, employee-ID cards, membership cards of various organizations, or electronic money systems, commuter' tickets, etc. IC cards includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) which has an operation processing function and a memory which stores necessary data, etc. for processing, and performs sending and receiving data with electrically contacted with a predetermined reader/writer (R/W) or non-contacted by utilizing electromagnetic waves, etc.
When using IC cards for electronic money systems and security systems, security, such as data secrecy and prevention of IC card forgery, has importance. In general, personal information is often stored in the memory of the cards, and thus it is a big problem how to prevent personal information from being read illegally from the cards.
Also, when one user has a plurality of cards corresponding to various services, management of these cards is left to each individual. Thus it is anticipated that the possibility of losing cards and illegal use of other person's lost cards increase with increasing number of cards.
A description will be given of the memory structure example of the card-type memory device such as the conventional IC card with reference to the drawings. The memory in FIG. 24 illustrates the memory structure example of the device available, for example, for an electronic money. As shown in FIG. 24, the memory area is mainly divided into three parts. Specifically, the parts are a data area, a memory management area, and a system area.
The data area stores data based on “data structure” stored at the top of each data, for example, a user name, an address, a telephone number, an amount, a memo, and a log. The memory management area stores a storage address, an access method, an access authentication key, etc. for accessing each data in the data area. For example, the example shows that an access to data 1 (user name) in the data area is allowed for read only by using an access authentication key (1233 . . . ). Also, the system area stores a device identification (ID), a memory management key which is an authentication key for obtaining a memory area in the data area, and so on.
The data area of the memory device shown in FIG. 24 can be divided into a plurality of areas. These divided areas can be managed by different service entities, for example, in the case of electronic money, the divided areas can be managed individually by different electronic-money service providing entities (for example, a plurality of different banks). Each divided area data is read, written (ex. update of balance data) by a user, for example, a reader/writer (dedicated reader/writer or PC, etc.), which is a device access machine installed at a store selling products using electronic money in addition to individual service providing entities.
Next, a description will be given of the memory access method for a memory device having a plurality of data area using FIG. 25. The reader/writer on the left side in FIG. 25 is a reader/writer (R/W) for memory access, and is composed of a dedicated R/W or a PC. The reader/writer (R/W) for memory access is provided with a secure NVRAM for holding an access authentication key. In order to access data area of a secure device using a R/W, a device ID is read from the secure device first. Next, in the R/W, an authentication key is generated using an access authentication key and the device ID, and mutual authentication is executed with the secure device using the generated authentication key. After succeeding in mutual authentication, the R/W performs a predetermined access on the data in the data area corresponding to the access authentication key.
At this time, accessing is performed in accordance with the access method defined in the memory management area. For example, when succeeding in access authentication for decrement of data 4 (amount data), it becomes possible to decrement data in data 4.
IC cards have various use forms, for example, an above-described medical care card used in a hospital, an employee-ID card used in an organization such as a company, a commuter's ticket, etc. in addition to an electronic money described above. Thus, the processing executed on an IC card differs depending on the service providing entity (service provider) which provides each service. The application programs necessary for these processing are stored in a memory in an IC card, and when accessing a reader/writer under the control of each service provider, each program is executed to read or write data stored in the IC card.
A memory card, which stores such various data and are capable of executing various applications, stores various personal information as described above. Each service requires different personal information. If one piece of card is formed to be used for all the services, the card becomes necessary to store various personal information, such as a bank account number, an employee-ID number, or a medical history in addition to every personal information, for example, an address, a name, a telephone number, etc. Accumulation of personal information in such a way causes a problem of external exposure of personal information in the case of a card loss or a theft.
Also, in recent years, crimes or illegal procedures using cards, in which a person who is not authorized for acquiring a legitimate card receives the card by pretending a legitimate card acquiring person by making a card issue request using an illegal procedure, etc., have been increased.